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LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's water polo team dropped a late 11-8 decision to closely-matched Long Beach State Friday evening at Canyonview Pool.

"It got away from us," said Head Coach Denny Harper. "I thought we played really well though. Long Beach is a good team with a lot of weapons."

With LBSU ranked 10th and UCSD ranked 11th nationally, the teams came into the match expecting a tight battle and that's exactly what they got.

"For three quarters, we were executing the game plan to a tee," said Harper. "We knew it would be a close ball game, but clearly the fourth got away from us. A few calls here and there could have gone either way but overall, in particular without Josh Stiling playing tonight, I thought the guys rallied really well."

UCSD's three-goal second quarter sent the Tritons into halftime with a 4-3 lead. They posted their largest lead of the game at 6-4 exactly one minute into the third with a goal from Luke Syka, his first of two in the quarter. The 49ers evened up the score twice, but the Tritons did not give up easily as they held an 8-7 lead going into the final stanza.

"Luke played a great game," said Harper. "I'd been on him to shoot the ball a bit more and I think he played well."

In the fourth, LBSU evened the game with a goal from Nolan McConnell. The 49ers did not look back from that point on as they found the net three more times while keeping the Tritons scoreless.